The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Alstroemeria plant, botanically known as Alstroemeria hybrida, commercially used as a cut flower Alstroemeria, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Zalsasam’.
The new Alstroemeria plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new cut flower Alstroemeria cultivars with desirable flower and plant qualities, attractive foliage and flower coloration and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Alstroemeria plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands in May, 2002, of a proprietary Alstroemeria hybrida selection identified as code number 97-0915-004PN, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Alstroemeria hybrida selection identified as code number 99-0074-16, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Alstroemeria was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands in June, 2003.
Asexual reproduction of the new Alstroemeria plant by rhizome divisions in a controlled greenhouse environment in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands since September, 2003, has shown that the unique features of this new Alstroemeria plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.